Biography

Pianist and composer Ida Alanen's compositions draw inspiration from the borderland between sleep and wakefulness, inviting images from the subconscious into broad daylight.

Ida Alanen Trio alternates effortlessly between carefully orchestrated compositions and the freedom of improvisation. As a pianist Ida Alanen has an exceptional sensitivity to melody and simplistic beauty, and her compositions are filled with colourful details and a rich harmonic palette. The duality of the two worlds, the dreamworld and realistic world, the conscious and the subconscious remains the main theme of the trio's debut album Awake Asleep.

"I've always had a vivid and colourful dream world. I often remember the scenes, places and different details as if it actually happened,” Ida explains. "The dreams are often long with multiple sections, they can be realistic or pure fireworks of imagination without any restrictions of the waking world."

A couple of years ago her fascination with dreaming started to grow, as she realized that having a strong connection to ones dreamworld is not to be taken for granted. She became especially interested in lucid dreaming and hypnagogia - the state between sleep and wakefulness. All of the tunes on the album are either directly inspired by dreams, were affected by them, or serve as mirrors to a dreamlike imaginary world.

Tracklist

1. Awake Asleep 
2. Spring Song 
3. Yö Kaivopuistossa 
4. Sleeping Shepherd
5. Is This Real?
6. Kiertokulku
7. Lost Times
8. Little Demons
9. Hearts Mend